Operation Cobra Terrier
by VinEsquire
Summary: After the events of the 1987 G.I. Joe animated movie, Lieutenant Falcon finds himself assigned to a covert mission and teamed up with the former Cobra Commander. Will Falcon prove to be a capable Joe? Can Cobra Commander be trusted?


G.I. Joe: Operation Cobra Terrier

By Vincent Chia

Written: December 2014

* * *

"Corporal, you're my driver, get your butt in here," said Cobra Commander.

Mercer looked to the Viper captain for confirmation. The original plan for Operation Cobra Terrier called for Cobra Commander and Mercer to stay on base while the rank-and-file Vipers engaged. But Cobra Commander wasn't going to let his troops have all the fun. The captain nodded to give Mercer permission. Inside the Viper captain's uniform and behind the generic ski mask was Falcon, a former lieutenant with G.I. Joe.

Falcon wasn't a big fan of Cobra Commander, but he had a begrudging respect for the whiny-voiced brat. Beyond the fact that Cobra Commander had actually saved Falcon's life during the events at Cobra-La, Falcon found Cobra Commander to have at least some redeemable qualities. Intermittent bravery was one of them.

Falcon had been briefed on Cobra Commander's personality file and battle history. Cobra Commander often threw himself into the fray instead of just hanging back at a safe distance and watching things unfold. The most widely known example was during what Cobra called "Operation Liberty Fall." A large force of Cobra troops took part in the plan to strike a symbolic blow and crash the Statue of Liberty into New York Harbor. When the Joes intercepted, Cobra Commander himself flew down in a winged jetpack to place a bomb at the statue's base in order to bring it down. Destro, Baroness, and the twins stood around and watched their leader fly off. It was a little ridiculous.

Mercer joined Cobra Commander and boarded the lead HISS tank.

"Yo Joe," whispered Falcon to Mercer.

"Yo Joe," responded Mercer. Although it was said in a barely audible voice, Cobra Commander was still a little bit irked by it.

Falcon watched as eight Hi-Speed Sentry Cobra armored vehicles rumbled out of the hangar and sped into the desert.

* * *

Flashback: Two weeks earlier

G.I. Joe Headquarters

Situation Room

0945 Hours

"Welcome back, Duke," said Flint as Duke walked into the dimly lit briefing room. Why did these rooms always have to be so dark? A little light wouldn't hurt.

"Thanks, Flint," said Duke. It had only been three weeks since Duke got out of his coma and only two weeks since he started walking again. The doctors were going to put him on restricted duty for at least a month, but Duke insisted on returning to action.

"Great seeing you again, Duke," said Lady Jaye.

Roadblock, Scarlett, Ripcord, and Beachhead also walked up to Duke to welcome him back.

"Company, attention," said Lookout as she walked into the large room. She was General Hawk's aide and announced the general's arrival.

"Please be seated," said Hawk as he entered. All of the Joes' senior staff sat down at the metal conference table in the middle of the situation room.

General Hawk started the meeting by congratulating all of the Joes on their fine work in pushing the Cobra organization to near total annihilation. After the Joes' victory at Cobra-La, almost all of the the remaining Cobra bases fell like dominoes.

"With the recent collapse of Cobra, the president is adding some new responsibilities to our plate. G.I. Joe is being put on standby to participate in possible ground operations in the Middle East."

The large main video screen blinked on and half of the Joes had to turn their chairs to see the screen. They saw a map of the Middle East with various icons that symbolized units of troops and vehicles. Different factions had their icons in different colors. There was a total of 14 different colors. This was going to be a giant mess.

"In one week's time, we will be deploying to forward positions here," said General Hawk as he used his laser pointer to indicate an area in western Raqir.

"We hold defensive posture in these two villages near the border," said Hawk. "We will NOT be authorized to cross the border."

There was a collective groan heard around the room. All the Joes had been following the news. The various terrorist organizations had been assembling just west of the border, crossing it temporarily to engage in attacks, and then recrossing into relative safety. This cat-and-mouse game annoyed the Pentagon to no end.

"Duke, since you asked to return to duty immediately, I'm sending you in. We're going to split into two teams. Duke, you have overall command in the field. Flint, you're second in command. There are several thousand local militia already in theatre. We're technically on the ground as 'advisors' but de facto commanders. Be as diplomatic as possible, but get the job done."

"Yes, sir," said both Duke and Flint.

"Everyone, grab your gear and prepare to deploy within the next three hours," said Hawk. "You're all dismissed."

The Joes stood from the conference table and started to file out of the room.

"Duke, stay for a minute," said Hawk.

Hawk waited for the room to clear out.

"Duke, I wanted to speak to you about your half-brother, Falcon."

Duke nodded silently.

"He has recently volunteered for a covert mission. I thought you should know. "

"Covert mission?" asked Duke. "I thought he was on assignment somewhere in Asia Pacific."

Hawk shook his head.

"While you were in a coma, during the G.I. Joe assault into Cobra-La, Cobra Commander proved to be an instrumental source of information. The Cobra organization had expelled him and subjected him to some sort of biological weapon. He was slowly turning into a human snake hybrid. In addition to supplying information to help Flint's team find Cobra-La, Cobra Commander also saved your brother's life during a brawl with Serpentor."

Duke had been briefed on some of the general details of the events at Cobra-La, but most of what General Hawk just said about Cobra Commander was new information to Duke.

General Hawk pushed a file folder across the conference table. The file slid across and came to a rest right in front of Duke.

"The After Action Reports are in the file folder in front of you," said Hawk. Duke quickly skimmed through the documents in the folder.

As a result of Lieutenant Falcon's recommendation, and also Roadblock's positive remarks, General Hawk had agreed to request a few elite biomed researchers from the Pentagon who had the knowledge base to reverse Cobra Commander's mutation. After some experimental treatments, Cobra Commander was no longer a human mind in a 90% snake's body constantly whining that he was "once a man."

"It turns out that wasn't to be the end of our relationship with Cobra Commander. Special Forces HQ identified a unique opportunity for us."

Hawk directed Duke's attention to one of the glossy maps in the file.

"Although we are prohibited from crossing the Raqiri border into Syristan, Cobra used to have a forward outpost inside that country. It has since been abandoned. The outpost is hidden in an underground bunker in the middle of the desert. Cobra Commander can access the outpost, which should contain at least 10 armored vehicles. We intend to insert Cobra Commander into the base with a force of Vipers and use them to fend off the various Sphinx forces in the area."

"Cobra Commander agreed to this?" asked a surprised Duke.

"He was amazingly grateful for us restoring his human form," said Hawk.

"Why is my brother involved?" asked Duke.

"It's a tricky situation," said Hawk. "The Pentagon wants deniability for any operations undertaken inside Syristan. Cobra Commander only trusted two G.I. Joes to accompany him on this mission: Falcon or Roadblock. I and Vice Admiral Hansen of Special Warfare Command decided on Falcon because he presents us with a certain level of deniability. Because of his various brushes with being discharged from the military in the past, we are going to send him in with the cover that he has been discharged from service. If he is caught behind enemy lines, we are denying any connection with him or his mission."

Duke was not pleased with this development. The general rule among all members of the military was that nobody is left behind. These covert missions where operatives would be abandoned if caught did not sit well with Duke. It was exponentially worse that the operative was his brother.

"Falcon volunteered," insisted Hawk.

"After you asked him to," said Duke.

"This mission is important," said Hawk. "It's also relatively simple and straightforward. One of the newest factions in the mess of a civil war in Syristan calls itself 'The Claws of Sphinx.' Normally, when one faction grows in power, the other rival factions slap it down. In this case, that isn't happening because Sphinx is attacking villages whose residents belong to two religious minorities. The villagers appear to have no support within the borders. We'd like Cobra Commander to lead a small force to balance the situation a little bit."

Duke studied the map and soon realized that there was no strategic value to the village involved in this so-called "important" mission. This was strictly a humanitarian relief mission. Duke had mixed feelings about whether the mission was worth risking his brother's life.

"I'm only telling you about Falcon's mission as a courtesy, Duke," said Hawk.

"Understood," said Duke.

"Very well. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Duke stared at the file folder on his desk. General Hawk was originally given two possible names for the upcoming operation: Rattler's Hiss or Cobra Thunder. Hawk disliked both of them. They both sounded evil, but Rattler's Hiss moreso. Hawk picked Cobra Thunder.

At first, Duke considered the name Operation Cobra Thunder to be reasonably acceptable. At least the description was appropriate. On second thought, he crossed out the word "Thunder" with a black magic marker and scribbled the word "Terrier." That sounded innocuous enough.

Duke wanted to get a better sense of Cobra Commander's trustworthiness. He tried very hard to wrap his head around trusting Cobra Commander.

Cobra Commander had been known to sometimes have a bit of a short fuse. With the recent betrayal by Cobra's senior lieutenants, it was hard for Duke to believe that Cobra Commander wouldn't fly off the handle at the first provocation. The medical researchers sent from the Pentagon had cleared Cobra Commander as fit. There were even two psychologists who spent a few sessions evaluating Cobra Commander. Although there were lingering anger issues and some regret, there wasn't anything too extreme. The psychologists reported to the General Hawk that Cobra Commander was stable enough for the upcoming covert op.

Although Duke wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to the medical professionals, he wanted to get an opinion from a field operative.

Duke decided to get a first-hand impression from Roadblock, the Joe who had spent the most time with Cobra Commander. He met with Roadblock informally at the Joes' mess hall. Duke didn't mention Operation Cobra Terrier. He simply asked Roadblock for a personal opinion about Cobra Commander.

"Cobra Commander, he's all right

He was my eyes when I lost my sight

He redeemed himself and helped us Joes

Defeat Cobra-La, the deadliest of foes

He ain't perfect, I ain't gonna lie

But Falcon and me, owe our lives to the guy"

Duke regarded Roadblock highly as a soldier and a friend. But he had to admit, Roadblock's constant rhyming occasionally irked the bejeezus out of him. Duke wanted a report, not storytime at your local children's bookstore.

But Roadblock definitely didn't hold a candle to Cobra Commander's hoarse yet high pitched voice. It was hard to describe, but annoying would be an understatement. Duke wondered what those two thought about each other's speech. Did they both annoy each other? Or were they both immune or tolerant of each other idiosyncratic voices?

After thinking about the situation for a short while longer, Duke decided to focus on his own mission. Falcon was an adult, he could take care of himself.

* * *

Elsewhere on the American East Coast, Falcon and Cobra Commander chatted while they waited on the tarmac of the small airport where their private jet was being prepped for flight. They couldn't take a military transport since they were officially detached from any military authority. They also didn't want to fly commercial as Cobra Commander's appearance would set off serious red flags.

Falcon was dressed in civilian attire. In fact, he donned a New York Yankees baseball cap. His head had felt a little naked without his usual green beret.

"The Evil Empire?" Cobra Commander asked curiously. It was a nickname for the baseball team which opponents had started but the Yankees had jokingly adopted anyway.

"What are you, a Red Sox fan?" asked Falcon jokingly.

"Tampa Bay Rays," said Cobra Commander.

"Really?" said a surprised Falcon.

"Personally, I have no taste for baseball or any of your other sports," said Cobra Commander. "But my son Billy lives in Florida with his mother."

Falcon remembered Cobra Commander mentioning he had an estranged son when Falcon first visited Cobra Commander in the hospital wing as he was recovering from the experimental treatments.

Just then, a third member of their team joined them on the tarmac.

"Lieutenant, sir," said the newcomer.

"Corporal," said Falcon in acknowledgment.

Falcon could see that Cobra Commander thought he recognized the corporal but couldn't quite place him. Of course, the corporal knew who Cobra Commander was. The corporal was dressed in a typical Viper uniform, but did not wear a ski mask.

"Cobra Commander, this is your new bodyguard, Mercer," said Falcon. Mercer was a former Cobra Viper who had defected to the Joes. General Hawk also felt that Mercer provided the Pentagon some level of deniability, If he were caught in the field, they could say that Mercer had been a Cobra operative all along and only pretended to defect to the Joes. Hawk disliked all of this "cover your butt" state-of-mind in his superiors, but understood it was a delicate diplomatic situation.

"Do I really need a bodyguard?" asked an incredulous Cobra Commander.

"If any of the Vipers get wind that the Cobra Organization has officially disowned you, then yes, you probably do. This is just in case," said Falcon.

"You don't have enough confidence in yourself to ensure my safety?" teased Cobra Commander. "You're supposed to a captain, my right hand man!"

Falcon shrugged it off.

"Look at him," said Falcon. "Then take a look at me. Who do you think makes a more believable bodyguard?"

Physically, Mercer was substantially larger than Falcon. In a brawl, Mercer could probably crush several average-sized Vipers.

"What ever happened to all the talk about the size of the fight in the dog being more important than the size of the dog in the fight?" said Cobra Commander.

"Whatever," said Falcon. "It's still better to have two than one. I never imagined I'd say this, but maintaining your safety is high on my to-do list, Cobra Commander."

The three of them soon climbed into the private jet, chartered by Vanilla Wolf Oil & Gas. It was one of the smaller and lesser known CIA front companies.

* * *

After the Joes landed in Baqzad International Airport, the local garrison commander greeted Duke and showed the Joe team their temporary accommodations for the next couple of days before they moved out to the border area.

This would be the final mission briefing before Duke's team set out for the mission. Duke went over the outline of Operation Sandstorm Eagle.

A map was projected onto the large table in the center of the briefing room. Zooming in on the border areas between Raqir and Syristan, Duke moved around several plastic toy soldiers that represented his team and Flint's team. The Joes discussed in detail their planned movements and positions for the mission.

As a last matter of business, Duke mentioned that there may be some fighting on the Syristan side of the border in which the Joes would be tempted to intervene. The fighting might even include friendly forces from various allies, Duke added. However, he reiterated the Pentagon's policy that they are not to cross the border. Duke did not mention Operation Cobra Terrier, which might take his brother Falcon as close as 3 miles to the border.

* * *

Cobra Commander's flight landed in northern Syristan without incident. One of the numerous rebel factions controlled this region. And one of the useful characteristics of this particular rebel faction was that they would pretty much do anything for the right price. The CIA "lent" Cobra Commander enough gold coins to buy passage five times over. Awaiting Cobra Commander at the airport was a platoon of twenty Cobra Vipers. The platoon stood at attention and saluted as Cobra Commander disembarked from the aircraft, flanked by a Viper captain and a large bodyguard.

The twenty Vipers were recently released from various G.I. Joe detention centers across the globe and flown directly to Syristan. They would not be aware of the Cobra organization's recent downfall. As a cover, they were told that Cobra Commander won their release by negotiating a prisoner exchange with G.I. Joe.

A convoy of several military trucks took Cobra Commander and his Vipers to the hidden Cobra base in the middle of the desert. It was so well hidden that even after leaping out of the truck at the proper coordinates, it took over 15 minutes for Cobra Commander to precisely locate the underground bunker. Once Cobra Commander finally found the access panel, he had to go through three different identification scans. A retina scan; a fingerprint scan; and a voiceprint scan. Falcon half-expected the security system to require some sort of DNA swab.

The computer at the access panel beeped when Cobra Commander passed the identification procedures and a tiny green light blinked on. A large steel door slowly hissed open and rose from the ground. Falcon and Mercer led the way, with their pistols drawn, just in case there were any surprises waiting inside. Intel reported that the bunker was abandoned, but just in case.

As the group walked down the ramp, it soon got completely pitch black. They turned on their flashlights and several beams of light sliced through the darkness. Cobra Commander searched for the nearest control panel and turned on the lights. Under his silver mask, he smiled a triumphant smile when he saw the military vehicles now at his disposal.

After the facility was cleared, everyone holstered their pistols.

"All right, everyone," said Falcon in a loud voice to address all the Vipers. "Let's all get some shut-eye. Mission briefing tomorrow at 0800."

All of the Vipers obediently walked over to the barracks area to claim their bunks and lockers. The facility was built to accommodate over 100, so there were plenty of choices.

"You think these will be enough?" asked Mercer out of earshot of any of the other Vipers. He was referring to the HISS tanks.

"For our purposes, yes," said Falcon. "Now go catch some zzzzz's."

Mercer went over to the regular barracks to grab a bunk with the rest of the Vipers. The underground facility, codename Scimitar, had private quarters for the commanding officer and the second-in-command. Cobra Commander and Falcon would take those.

* * *

While it wasn't his strong suit, Cobra Commander was generally a decent tactician when it came to tank formations. However, for this specific mission, he would not have the opportunity to show off. The various Sphinx forces were gathered in an area that was basically a flat desert. No hills or other ground features. The Sphinx were out in the open, ripe to be attacked. They formed a loose circle surrounding a small village of people they considered infidels. Once reinforcements arrived, the Sphinx would crush the few defenders and massacre the villagers.

Cobra Commander ordered his group of eight tanks to engage head-on. They formed into a v-shaped wedge, with his tank in the middle at the lead. Once the HISS tanks came within view of the Sphinx perimeter lookouts, the Sphinx immediately got into their pick-up trucks and tried to hightail it.

"Cobraaaa!" shrieked Cobra Commander as he urged his formation to accelerate to full speed ahead.

Cobra Commander ordered the two tanks at the far left end of the formation to fire diagonally at a 45 degree angle forward and to the left while he ordered the two tanks on the right side to fire diagonally to the right. This way, Cobra Commander was basically herding the enemy. The enemy would risk getting hit if they fled to the left or the right, they could only flee in a forward direction.

The enemy forces did exactly as expected. They fled to the southeast as Cobra Commander raided from the northwest. However, the pick-ups were faster than anticipated.

Eventually, the Sphinx forces took a detour to their left. Cobra Commander ordered all the tanks to concentrate fire, but they weren't close enough in range. They got a few lucky shots in, but they soon came upon a small town. Some of the townspeople came roaring out in various vehicles and came out firing. Cobra Commander ordered his tanks to a halt so he could better assess the situation. There were several pick-up trucks with machine gun mounts, a couple of dune buggies, and even three humvees which seemed to have been confiscated from the armed forces of the Raqiri central government and then snuck back into Syristan.

Cobra Commander was a tiny bit insulted. Sure, the sheer number of vehicles outnumbered his force, but his sentry tanks were clearly superior in armament. He'll crush these fools and show them who was boss.

Before Cobra Commander could order his men to re-engage the enemy, a staticky crackling came over on his radio.

"Hold position," said the radio voice. Cobra Commander realized it was Falcon calling him on a private radio channel.

"What? Why?" asked Cobra Commander.

"There are two heavy tanks hidden inside that village, ready to ambush you," said Falcon.

"How do you know?" asked Cobra Commander.

"I'm flying above you right this second," said Falcon. "I'm in a Rattler."

Cobra Commander was a little bit surprised, he wasn't aware Falcon was a pilot. He also thought Falcon was going to stay on base.

"So you joined us for some action, hmmm?" said Cobra Commander.

"Wasn't the original plan. We were supposed to have satellite eyes over the region, but the satellite was re-tasked for a higher priority mission. At least, that's what they tell me."

'Welcome to the fun, sir," said Mercer.

"The intel was important. You know what they say," said Falcon. "Knowledge is power."

"Don't you mean 'Knowing is half the battle?'" said Mercer.

"Same difference," said Falcon. "I'm going to try to draw the tanks out of their hiding positions."

"Let's just bombard the entire town," said Cobra Commander.

"No. Minimal civilian casualties," said Falcon.

"This is not the conduct of a proper Rattler pilot," insisted Cobra Commander.

"Well, I'm not one," said Falcon.

"But you are pretending to be one. A Cobra pilot would. If you want this to appear like a Cobra engagement, you're going to have to be more ruthless. Cobra doesn't avoid civilian casualties."

Falcon thought about it for several seconds, but remained steadfast in his opinion.

"Stand fast," repeated Falcon.

"Are we just going to sit here on our butts?" asked an annoyed Cobra Commander.

"For now."

Although annoyed, he decided to go with Falcon's desired course of action. When General Hawk came to Cobra Commander with this mission, Cobra Commander agreed that G.I. Joe would have operational command. That meant Falcon. Cobra Commander didn't always keep his word, but he always made an attempt. He bought out a pair of binoculars and watched Falcon's Rattler dive down from the sky, fly low to the ground, and strafe the various pick-ups and humvees forming battle lines at the outskirts of the town. The Rattler's 30 millimeter cannon did some serious damage.

The Rattler was capable of vertical take-offs and landings; Falcon took advantage of that capability and simply hovered outside of the Sphinx humvees' machine gun range, baiting them to give chase.

After about 15 minutes, Falcon landed his Rattler onto the sand. He wanted to save some of his jet fuel. Everyone waited in a standstill for over two hours. These terrorists are surprisingly disciplined, thought Falcon. Not the bunch of rabble some of their detractors had labeled them as. In the back of his mind, he suspected that the Sphinx personnel holed up in the town had called for reinforcements. Falcon kept his radar scans active, just in case.

As the third hour approached, Cobra Commander got impatient.

"Can we just engage already?" he asked.

Falcon sighed. "Green light to engage. Hold fire if they retreat back into town."

Cobra Commander split his tanks into two smaller formations. He took the first group slowly ahead as the second group of 4 held their positions.

"Loose weapons," said Cobra Commander. His tanks opened up a first barrage of fire.

Enemy forces returned fire while holding position. The exchange of fire took out two enemy pick-ups and one of their humvees. Cobra Commander sustained no losses but some of his tanks had new bulletholes in them.

Meanwhile, Falcon took his Rattler back up in the air. He observed the two enemy battle tanks starting to move out of their positions in the center of the town.

"Look alive," warned Falcon over the radio.

Cobra Commander ordered his first wave to hold position for now but be prepared to reverse out of the battle tanks' cannon range. They continued firing at the pick-ups and humvees.

Falcon watched his radar screen intently. Finally, a blob of at least a dozen blips appeared at the edge of the screen. Usually, radars were calibrated to not detect any ground traffic. There would be so much noise from cars and other normal vehicles that the entire screen would light up. However, in the middle of the desert, ground noise would be less.

Falcon flew up to a higher altitude to confirm that these were Sphinx reinforcements as opposed to a random tribe of civilians.

* * *

General Hawk sat at his mahogany desk on his comfy chair.

A gentle knock on his door took his attention away from his computer screen.

"Enter," yelled Hawk.

Cover Girl cracked open the door and stuck her head through the small gap.

"Deep Six just reported in," she said. "Recon is complete."

"Thanks," said Hawk.

She left and closed the door behind her. Hawk opened up a small notebook on his desk and placed a red check next to "Project Echo Scarecrow." He stared for a few seconds at his list of six codenames. Operations Cobra Terrier and Sandstorm Eagle had the words "In Progress" next to them.

* * *

Falcon smiled as he got visual confirmation of dozens of Sphinx vehicles speeding toward Cobra Commander's position. This was the enemy he needed to crush, not just two battle tanks in some small town. He keyed his radio and warned Cobra Commander of the incoming reinforcements.

Falcon flew above the enemy convoy but did not engage. Because Falcon held fire, the terrorist convoy below seemed to not deem the aircraft as a threat and continued on its previous course.

After about 15 minutes, Falcon caught Cobra Commander's formation at the edge of his vision. His tanks were apparently fleeing to the southeast from the much larger Sphinx force. Falcon's Rattler had two air-to-ground missiles. He fired one at the Sphinx tank that was furthest out front. He then strafed the other vehicles with rapid fire and then sped right past them. He also sped past Cobra Commander's forces and then flew out of eyesight.

* * *

"Order your tanks to slow down," said Falcon on his private radio channel with Cobra Commander.

"Order my tanks to do _what_?" shrieked Cobra Commander.

"You are outrunning them. If the gap grows too much in distance, they'll give up the pursuit. You need to draw them in," explained Falcon.

Cobra Commander cursed under his breath. This was borderline reckless! With an annoyed grunt, he complied with Falcon's instruction.

* * *

Duke sat in the front passenger seat of his up-armored humvee. He held a smartphone up to his right ear, awaiting a report.

"Confirmed," said Flint's voice from the other end. "A fast jet just crossed in from Syristan. Looks like either an American Warthog or…. a Cobra Rattler?" said a slightly confused Flint.

"Copy," said Duke. He grabbed a radio mic with his other hand and relayed a request for attack helicopters. Three would be airborne within minutes.

"Wait. Wait," said Flint. "I've got dozens of vehicles also approaching. Maybe 50. Led by a row of Cobra sentry tanks! Jesus."

"Copy, Flint," said Duke. "Mobilize your units but hold fire on the Cobra vehicles."

"Say again?"

"Our targets are the vehicles chasing Cobra."

Flint took a closer look through his high-powered binoculars. He soon realized that it wasn't one big group of vehicles, but a small group of Cobra vehicles being chased by a mishmash of pick-up trucks, jeeps, humvees, dune buggies and at least 6 medium and heavy tanks. A lot of the military equipment appeared American by design and had painted markings of the Raqiri central government. Flint surmised they were some of the multitude of weapons that the rebels stole.

"Flint, your units can break cover now," said Duke. "Engage the Sphinx vehicles head-on. We'll come in from the south. Be careful with your fire sectors."

"Copy," said Flint. Friendly fire was always a danger on the battlefield, but the Joes were quite successful in avoiding it.

"Ripcord, take us in," said Duke.

Ripcord smiled and mashed his foot on the accelerator.

* * *

Looking down at the electronic map, Cobra Commander soon ordered his tank contingent to halt. They were now five miles deep into Raqir. They turned around and stood their ground against the pursuing Sphinx forces. Cobra Commander watched as various Raqiri military vehicles came rushing in with guns blazing. To add an exclamation point to the whole thing, Falcon's Rattler let loose his remaining missile on one of the tanks controlled by Sphinx.

"Single column, single column!" ordered Cobra Commander. "Let's pass them on our right!"

The Cobra tanks soon formed up in a single line and drove past several Sphinx vehicles, unleashing a "drive-by" style barrage. Cobra Commander preferred to drive past the enemy and engage by firing to the side instead of using the bolder tactic of attacking head-on. Attacking head-on meant that the enemy had a more steady target to shoot at. Either that, or the Cobra tanks would have to zig-zag during their approach. The drive-by approach meant the the Cobra tanks would be moving targets and could get in range, fire, and then get out of range of the Sphinx-controlled tanks. Forming a single column helped decrease the possibility that the Cobra tanks could accidentally hit each other.

Meanwhile, the Raqiri forces led by Flint had concentrated their fire on the heaviest Sphinx tanks. After a couple of passes by the Cobra column and dozens of direct hits by Flint's Raqiri forces, the Sphinx decided to run.

Duke's forces soon came in and blocked the Sphinx from retreating back into Syristan. With the arrival of the attack helicopters, the Sphinx forces soon got out of their vehicles with their hands up in surrender. To the Raqiri commander's surprise, he and his senior officers were able to reclaim some of the military vehicles that were stolen from them months before. Elated Raqiri soldiers took the rebel terrorists into custody. It was one of the very few Raqiri victories.

Cobra Commander couldn't resist laughing at the Sphinx forces who had just unknowingly crossed the border into Raqir.

"These fools are so inept," thought Cobra Commander to himself. Looking back, it was almost too easy. Where was the fun in that?

Cobra Commander couldn't believe the Sphinx forces fell for such an obvious trap. Unbeknownst to him, this was precisely General Hawk's plan all along. Not only was the Raqiri government able to keep the Joes' arrival under wraps, they had fed misinformation to the various rebel groups that the central government's militia forces were re-deployed to strengthen security around the capital city Baqzad, supposedly leaving the border areas unprotected.

* * *

Cobra Commander ordered his tanks to return to Cobra's Scimitar base. During the mission briefing that morning, he had explained that their goal was to clear the area of rebel elements that might cause them trouble. He also divulged to his Vipers that the Cobra organization had collapsed and they would need to slowly rebuild their power base. The Vipers all swore loyalty to Cobra Commander, with many of the senior Vipers saying they had always preferred Cobra Commander over Serpentor anyway.

This was going to be interesting. At first, Cobra Commander thought he would do the mission for G.I. Joe and then eventually return stateside, maybe try to reunite with his estranged son and live a normal life. But the battle this afternoon rejuvenated him. He felt like his old self again.

* * *

Duke and Scarlett stayed near the border in an armored vehicle as Flint led the rest of the Joes and the Raqiri forces back to their regional base. They waited patiently as a Cobra Rattler landed about 20 feet from them.

Falcon climbed out of the Rattler and met up with Duke. Falcon took off his mask and helmet and smiled.

"Well done, brother," said Duke as they both bumped fists.

"Glad this stunt actually worked," said Falcon.

"Think you can keep your cover for the next two months?" asked Duke.

"We'll see," said Falcon. Mercer was actually attached to protect Falcon from Cobra Commander. Falcon insisted that it wasn't necessary, but Duke made the call.

"Latest intel says Sphinx is growing stronger every day," said Scarlett. "We need these little raids to slow them down."

"I don't suppose their remaining forces will fall for the 'chase me into a trap' routine," said Falcon.

"Even if they did, you'd have to pull it off at least ten more times," said Duke. "Anyway, I trust you to devise some new tactics."

The three of them chatted for a couple more minutes before Falcon had to fly his Rattler back to Scimitar. Before he left, Duke told him to stay safe and wished him good luck.

"Yo Joe," said Duke.

"Yo Joe," replied Falcon. He hopped into the Rattler's cockpit and then took off.

* * *

That night, Falcon knocked on the door to Cobra Commander's private quarters. The Vipers had been celebrating their victory, but Cobra Commander only joined for the first 15 minutes or so of the party before he turned in.

"Come in," said Cobra Commander.

Falcon entered and closed the door behind him.

"A good day today," said Falcon.

"Indeed," replied Cobra Commander.

"Hawk is going to try to send us more Vipers."

"That'll help. If they're taking requests, a few more Rattler missiles would be great," said Cobra Commander. His voice indicated he was in a happy mood.

"You're a good man, Coby," joked Falcon. He wasn't sure Cobra Commander would wind up being a saint, but he had faith that Cobra Commander would be less evil.

Cobra Commander wasn't thrilled with being called "Coby," but he preferred it to C.C. or Coco, as the Joes experimented with different nicknames for him.

"Enjoy your night, Captain Falcon," said Cobra Commander.

"You as well."

Falcon nodded and then exited the Commander's quarters.

Left alone to his thoughts, Cobra Commander wondered if he could ever really be a different person. He genuinely wanted to help tie up the Sphinx rebels until the international community could agree on a more forceful action. But his mind now wandered to rebuilding his own organization and exacting revenge on Destro and the Baroness.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Short preview of next chapter:

Cobra Commander and Lieutenant Falcon stood in the blazing hot sun with a small breeze blowing some sand across their boots.

"Are you sure this is the right spot?" asked Cobra Commander. He and his entourage had been standing in the middle of this particular part of the desert for the past hour and a half.

"Yes," said Falcon. "By the way, I ranked first in my class in land nav," added Falcon smugly.

As if on cue, they soon heard the sound of the propellers of a giant cargo plane in the sky approaching from the south. A minute later, two large objects fell out of the plane with large parachutes opening a few seconds after they left the plane. The plane continued on its way northward and eventually flew out of sight.

"Here we go," said Falcon. The special delivery sent from G.I. Joe fell less than one mile off target. That was exceptionally good. Cobra Commander hopped into his HISS tank as Falcon hopped into another. Two other tanks joined them as they rumbled to the spot where the first large crate landed.

Once they arrived at the crate, Falcon and one of his Vipers disembarked from his tank.

They opened the crate and millions of packing peanuts spilled out. After digging through the packing peanuts, they found something that resembled a person-sized snowglobe. It was a Cobra "Trouble Bubble" Flight Pod. Falcon had previously requested a few Cobra FANG helicopters to bolster his air capabilities. Duke responded that a couple of Bubble pods were the only thing they could send at the time.

"Can you fly this thing back to base?" asked Falcon.

"I think I can figure it out," said the Viper. He was the only other person at Scimitar base other than Falcon who had any flight training.

"Figure it out?" said Falcon.

"Well, I guess as a last resort, I can always refer to the instruction manual," said the Viper cheerfully. He was already starting to poke some of the buttons on the flight pod's control panel.

Falcon was a little bit frustrated. "Why don't you refer to the instruction manual as your _first_ resort?" he said in his head. The commanders at G.I. Joe often instilled the mindset that knowledge wins battles. However, Falcon himself knew that curiosity and experimentation often led to knowledge just as well as reading manuals. He just hoped that this time, the trial and error approach didn't lead to the Viper crashing one of the only air assets he had.

"Okay, we'll see you back at Scimitar," said Falcon.

The Viper gave Falcon a thumbs up as Falcon reboarded his tank and the headed toward the second crate.


End file.
